Peru
Practice Relating to Rule 50. Destruction and Seizure of Property of an Adversary
Peru’s Human Rights Charter of the Security Forces (1991) provides that it is forbidden to cause more destruction than is required by the mission.
Peru’s IHL Manual (2004) states: “Civilian objects … can only be requisitioned if their use gives the adversary a military advantage.”
The manual further states:
The destruction of property must always be justified by military necessity. This means that the property in question must be a military objective or that it must be damaged or destroyed in order to construct military defensive works or systems. It is not permitted to destroy or damage property simply to prevent it being used by civilians or to drive them away.
Peru’s IHL and Human Rights Manual (2010) states: “Civilian objects … can only be requisitioned if their use gives the adversary a military advantage.”
The manual also states:
The destruction of property must always be justified by military necessity. This means that the property in question must be a military objective or that it must be damaged or destroyed in order to construct military defensive works or systems. It is not permitted to destroy or damage property simply to prevent it being used by civilians or to drive them away.
Peru’s Code of Military Justice (1980) provides that it is a punishable offence for a soldier “to destroy without necessity buildings or other property” in time of war.
Peru’s Military and Police Criminal Code (2010), in a chapter entitled “Crimes committed during states of emergency and against international humanitarian law”, states:
Article 82. - Plunder, appropriation and destruction
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than five and not more than ten years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she destroys, appropriates or seizes objects in a way that is not justified by the requirements of the military or political operation or mission.
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Article 83. - Arbitrary confiscation
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than three and not more than five years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she orders or carries out confiscations in a way that is not justified by the requirements of the military or political operation or mission.
Article 84. - Confiscation by omitting formalities
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than one and not more than three years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she carries out confiscations without complying with the legal formalities and without being obliged to confiscate by the particular circumstances.
Article 85. - Extortion
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than three and not more than five years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she obliges a member or several members of the civilian population to hand over or to make available any kind of object or to sign or hand in documents that have legal effects.
Article 86. - Unlawful taxes
A member of the military or the police shall be punished with deprivation of liberty of not less than three and not more than five years if, in a state of emergency and when the Armed Forces assume control of the internal order, he or she establishes taxes without legal basis and just reason.